Left Behind
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: Sylvan meets his father, and Eamonn deals with an icy assistant of Sylvan's father while waiting for him. In the aftermath of it all, Eamonn makes a very unlikely friend in a certain patissier, and he and Sylvan also talk a few things out.


**Author note: I do not own Yakitate! Japan.**

 **This takes place almost immediately after "Recordings," so if you haven't read that one yet, you probably should.**

 **Like in "Recordings," please take note of the following: Regular dialogue is in English.** _"Full dialogue in italics"_ **is in Japanese, as I won't attempt writing actual Japanese due to not knowing any.**

 **Warning: Yakitate! Japan spoilers, Emerald City spoilers, takes place post-Emerald City and during the Yakitate! 25/9 Arc, EamonnxMeister, MoniKai, some canon divergence, trigger warnings for mentions of abandonment, mild homophobia, and mentions of attempted suicide.**

* * *

 _ **Left Behind**_

Summary: Sylvan meets his father, and Eamonn deals with an icy assistant of Sylvan's father while waiting for him. In the aftermath of it all, Eamonn makes a very unlikely friend in a certain patissier, and he and Sylvan also talk a few things out.

* * *

They met at six in the evening, at the back of the Main Building, and made their way to St. Pierre from there.

Sylvan's leg bounced a bit as both of them now waited just outside Yuiichi Kirisaki's office, seated in chairs. The waiting area was clean and pristine…almost too clean.

"Are you alright?"

It was Eamonn that spoke, looking to Sylvan. Sylvan paused, trying to still his own leg as he looked to the older man, shaking his head.

"I just…I never thought the opportunity would arise, for me to maybe have my father back. I just..." He shut his mouth, then opened it again, "I don't know what to say. Or do."

"Maybe…listen to what he has to say first." The other suggested. His hand lifted to gently cup Sylvan's cheek. "If something doesn't feel right with any of this, just walk out and I'll follow. If they hurt you…"

"They won't."

Eamonn's face hardened. "They better not."

The office door opened, and a raven-haired woman walked out, looking to them. Eamonn quickly lowered his hand from Sylvan's face.

"He can see you now." The woman spoke, giving them both a look. Sylvan and Eamonn looked to each other quietly, both silent as Sylvan finally walked into the office. The door shut behind him, and Sylvan looked ahead towards a man standing up from his desk, walking around it to face him properly.

Sylvan swallowed, watching him. He hadn't seen him in years, and yet….

"Father…"

 _Gods, he missed him._

Yuiichi Kirisaki's face did not change. "Sylvan."

Sylvan hesitated, not sure of what to say, but Yuiichi beat him to it first.

"We have much to talk about."

"We do." Sylvan managed. He took a deep breath, before speaking again, remember what Eamonn told him about listening first, then responding. "We have a lot to speak of…regarding us, and Pantasia. So, tell me…which reason did you ask me to come here for, Father?"

* * *

Eamonn waited outside the office. He couldn't hear anything from outside, so either Sylvan and Yuiichi were speaking in low voices, or the office was soundproofed just enough.

He paced around a bit, leaning side to side slightly when just standing. He couldn't get himself to sit, honestly. He was worried for the younger man, wondering what he and his father could be talking about.

"Who're you, anyway?"

Eamonn looked to the woman who just spoke. She stared at him, a little frown on her face, lips pursed together. She would've been maybe attractive to Eamonn, if not for the icy demeanor she had, as well as her bluntness.

Wasn't she one of the Azusagawas, now that he thought about it? Not Tsukino, she was too tall. One of the other two that owned other branches of Pantasia that weren't the South Tokyo Branch. Mizuno, or Yukino?

At least she spoke English.

"I'm just Meister Kirisaki's security guard." He answered. He didn't say anything else, keeping his face as neutral as he could. Hopefully she'd shut up.

" _Just_ a security guard?"

Ah…She wasn't shutting up. He didn't say anything in response, and she scoffed.

"Don't think you pulled your hand away from his face in time. I saw you touching him."

Eamonn swallowed lightly, but kept his face unchanging, still silent.

"You're not going to say anything? Well, fine." She raised an eyebrow. "You're just as rude as the South Tokyo cockroaches."

Eamonn frowned, but said nothing. Cockroach? _Really?_

But she mentioned South Tokyo. She had something against the South Tokyo Branch of Pantasia?

Oh. It all clicked _now._

He was speaking to _Yukino Azuswagawa_ , wasn't he? The one who had the more serious family feud with Tsukino, right?

 _Well, shit._

* * *

"You want me to compete against Team Pantasia and win?"

"That's exactly it."

Sylvan shook his head, faintly. "That's it? You just…wanted to tell me to compete in your show, at your bidding, against my fellow coworkers?"

"It's not completely against Pantasia for you to do it." Yuiichi smoked his cigar, and Sylvan waved away the scent of it with a hand. "This is a competition show, and having you there will pull in the ratings. It'll benefit both businesses to have a 'plot twist' in there. And….should you fulfill this request and have Team Pantasia _lose_ , by the end of your stint against them, I'm willing to give Tsukino _fifty percent_ of Pantasia's stock. We would have co-ownership of both Pantasia and St. Pierre."

"Co-ownership?"

This didn't seem right. Sylvan was starting to get those vibes, now. Something seemed very off.

"Yes." Yuiichi smirked. "That would surely be something, wouldn't it?"

* * *

"Why would one of Pantasia's employees know the owner of St. Pierre so well?"

Eamonn couldn't help but ask it, and the question escaped his lips before he could stop himself.

Yukino smirked. "Why do you _think?"_

"It's to own Pantasia, isn't it?" Eamonn's eyes narrowed as he looked to her. "Given how St. Pierre owns most of Pantasia's stock…this competition show. It's just all a power play."

Why do the whole competition show in the first place? Was it really just to give the option of getting Pantasia back from St. Pierre? Or was there something else more…?

There _had_ to be something more. Why wouldn't there be? Eamonn saw his fair share of power play before, back in Oz, when the Wizard first took over. He blanched, thinking of how he killed Pastoria and his wife, and then of how their daughter Ozma wreaked her vengeance upon him for it.

He wondered if she killed the Wizard, too. He would never know now, would he? He wasn't in Oz anymore, after all.

"Think of what's more scandalous." Yukino pointed out. "Meister Kirisaki competing with St. Pierre against Pantasia for a brief amount of time, or the news of you and him being out in public."

Eamonn's eyes widened. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, at first. He remembered what Sylvan told him earlier, before their trip to France during the Monaco Cup, how same sex relationships did not exactly have the same respectability that heterosexual ones did.

He remembered, right then and there, how Sylvan had wanted to keep that a secret, and for good reason.

"You'd sink that low, to use a personal relationship against us."

Yukino smiled, and he shivered. "Believe me, I've sunk _lower_ than that."

* * *

"I don't think I can do this."

"If you compete, you guarantee Pantasia fifty percent of its stock back." Yuiichi reminded him.

"I know. And I'm saying no to this. I have faith that our team will win the entire competition. I don't need to go against them as _insurance."_

"You'd abandon an extra chance of getting Pantasia back?"

"You abandoned me, my sister and our mother years ago, and I thought we had _no chances_ of _getting you back!_ Do you know how much I wanted you back at the time!?"

Sylvan couldn't hold it in anymore. He just couldn't. The words just spilled out of him before he could stop them, and he absolutely no effort to stop them. His fists shook at his sides, inhaling deeply before continuing.

"I thought, by coming here, maybe we can talk more than just business, than Pantasia…but you've made no effort to talk about our past at all. For you to just walk back into my life, and ask a favour of me when you left our family behind—I'm not going to do that. You hurt me enough, and you using me for your own ends is something I'm not going to stand."

"You'd risk Pantasia over something so personal?"

"The people at Pantasia are the people I trust. There are people I see there as friends and maybe a family of sorts." Sylvan was surprised at how firm his voice was. "I also know that those same people are very much capable of regaining Pantasia and I'm not about to hinder their chances, either. I've made my choice."

Yuiichi frowned. "So you have."

"I thought," Sylvan looked hi in the eyes, "I thought that coming here, we'd talk things out. Get you back. Be a family again. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe that's why you left—you never wanted us. I know I'm capable of being without you, too. I'm leaving."

 _I'm not coming back._

* * *

"So what if we're in a relationship?"

Yukino stared. "What?"

" _So what if we're together?"_ Eamonn repeated in Japanese, then switched back to English. "You don't know the whole story of us. _You never will_. He helped me put my life back together when it fell apart. He helped me through a lot more than you think, and more than you will ever know. I don't give a _shit_ as of what you think, or what anyone else thinks."

The door opened, and Sylvan walked out.

"Eamonn." Sylvan looked to him. "Let's go."

Eamonn looked to him, seeing the hardened look on the other's face. Despite Sylvan still dressed in his clothes as General Manager, including the mask, it was clear that he wasn't pleased. "What happened…?"

"We'll talk about it later." Sylvan managed. "Let's just get out of here."

Eamonn said nothing as they both left the St. Pierre building.

* * *

"Do you think that was okay?"

Both of them were already on the way back when Sylvan asked this, while they were talking about what the hell happened with Sylvan's father and the conversation with Yukino. Eamonn blinked, looking to him. "What was that?"

"The whole confronting Yukino and my father thing." Sylvan sighed, grimacing. "What did we just get ourselves into?"

"As far as I know," The Lion of Oz managed, "You were offered a deal regarding regaining Pantasia, you turned it down, and we walked out. That's all that happened...as well as Yukino threatening to reveal our relationship to the public."

The General Manager swallowed, looking him in the eyes. "Promise you won't tell anyone what happened? We can trust Kuroyanagi to keep a secret if he seriously starts prying, but other than him I don't think it's good to tell anyone."

"I promise…Do you think they'll actually go through with it? Revealing our relationship? She knew….she might use that information."

Sylvan shook his head. "I doubt it, but I think…I think it's best to keep a low radar regardless. At least, until our competition against St. Pierre is over."

"True."

"…"

"Eamonn?"

"Yeah?"

"We should get back home."

"Okay."

Neither of them wanted to talk anymore. At least, not now.

* * *

Eamonn woke up the next day, getting dressed and eating breakfast, about to get to his shifts and such when Kuroyanagi just up and appeared his door.

"Where the hell were you last night?"

Eamonn stared right back at the frowning Ryou Kuroyanagi.

"I…went out? I was off shift…"

"We were trying to find someone to cover another guard's shift because they got sick, and we tried calling you twice." Kuroyanagi managed. The raven haired man shook his head, before speaking. "You weren't there at all when we even knocked on your door."

Eamonn frowned. "Was I not supposed to leave?"

"No, you can, I just…" The other sighed. "you usually stay in your room when you're not on shift. I know about your special situation, and I know you need time, but we were getting concerned."

"We?"

"Me and the other coworkers." Kuroyanagi clarified. "You keep isolating yourself and other than being with Sylvan," Eamonn made a face at that and Kuroyanagi gave him a look, "I know you two are together and all, but still."

Eamonn fell into silence. Kuroyanagi's glare at him softened.

"I know what it's like, going somewhere else and not being sure who to turn to. I went to America, some time ago for my studies before joining Pantasia. Isolating yourself like this isn't going to help, Eamonn."

"…I need a breather."

"Eamonn—"

"I'll get to work soon, I just need a moment."

Eamonn walked away before Kuroyanagi could protest.

* * *

" _Kai, what the hell!? You said you'd be down here twenty minutes ago for our date! You told me you had the day off! Did you forget!?"_

Eamonn stepped outside to see a young, fair-skinned woman yelling into her cellphone in Japanese. He watched her pace around, listening to the person on the other end, before speaking, leaning back against the wall as her long orange pigtails swayed in the outdoor breeze.

" _Look, I know you have your work, but you said...ugh,_ _ **okay,**_ _promise you'll be down in fifteen minutes tops?"_ A pause, then she smiled briefly. _"Thanks. Love you too, Kai."_

She finished the call, putting her phone in her pocket, before looking to Eamonn and offering a sheepish grin. _"I…I wasn't that loud, was I? Sorry 'bout the yelling."_

Eamonn shrugged, leaning back against the wall, speaking to her in Japanese in return. _"I don't think anyone else heard. I just…I just came back here to take a breather. Apologies for interrupting."_

" _No, no, it's fine, I didn't notice you until now."_ She paused, then asked, "Do you speak English?"

Eamonn nodded quickly.

She heaved a breath at that. "Oh, good…like, I knew a bit because Kai doesn't really know that much English and I'm a lot more fluent now from the constant practice, but it's a relief to know I'm not the only one speaking English here."

"Agreed." He paused, before speaking. "Have we met?"

"No, I don't think so, but I've heard of you." She tilted her head to the side. "Kai told me about you. You're Meister's boyfriend, aren't you?"

Eamonn grimaced, and he averted his gaze from her temporarily. "How many people know of this?"

"Not everyone-everyone in Pantasia, but _everyone."_

"That's not helpful."

She sighed, shaking her head. "Me, Kai, Azuma, Kanmuri, Tsukino, Kawachi, Spencer, Kuroyanagi, and a whole bunch of others know about you two. But it's not everyone in _the whole wide world or all of Japan_ , so I think you're good. And most of us won't blab…at least not intentionally."

He decided not to say anything in response to that, unsure of what to say. It was nice to know they wouldn't intentionally tell the world…at least, _most of them_. He wasn't so sure about Matsushiro or Kuroyanagi, but he hoped he wouldn't have to worry about that either.

He also decided mentioning anything about last night's events was probably not a good thing, ever. At least not now.

"I was just wondering…" Monica paused, then asked, "How is your relationship with him, uh, going? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

Eamonn thought back to last night, and the day before that, before answering.

"I feel like our relationship…escalated, quickly."

"In what way?" She wiggled her eyebrows, a grin slowly spreading across her face. "Did you two..?"

He shook his head quickly. "No. Asexual relationship. Just…" He closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall entirely, "I literally met him in a hospital because he brought me there after I hit his car, and then he helped me…get used to this world, and _then_ we got together just during the Monaco Cup. We went travelling together to France only a few weeks into the relationship, and now we're already confronting big personal issues. It just…within the few months, it just feels so fast."

"Wait," Monica stared, "You guys are only _a couple months_ into this relationship? You both look like you knew each other for _years!"_

He stared back at her. "You honestly thought that about us?"

"Yeah! I mean…" She faltered, clearing her throat, "I never saw you two fight or anything. Saw you both dancing at that after party, too. You both looked so happy, so I just thought…" She shook her head, "Wow, I had no idea. You guys…you both look like you have it all together."

Eamonn thought about his past marriage, then his relationship with Sylvan right now, then shook his head. "No one has it all together. _No one_. Especially in romance. I'm still trying to figure out things on my end, and same with him."

Monica's face fell. "Seriously? No one does?"

He nodded. "I'm serious. We _don't._ Love….as I understand from my experience, it takes time. And a lot of work, too."

"Huh." Her face scrunched into pouting. "Maybe that's why Samurai boy and I aren't always on the same page…"

Eamonn bit the inside of his cheek, not wanting to ask how often they were on the same page, but thankfully he didn't have to, because she went into a whole monologue about it then and there.

"Look," She managed, looking him in the eyes, "Kai is really sweet, I know he is. He gets really flustered and everything when we're together and it's adorable. But he's such a workaholic that he keeps forgetting our dates! I get that we were in France and just finishing up the Monaco Cup when we started dating, but then after that he started getting all hellbent on beating Azuma. Heck, we even sided with St. Pierre briefly to even try going against him!"

Eamonn stared. "You what?"

"I thought everyone knew that by now."

"I've been busy. Security. Haven't kept up."

"Oh."

Awkward silence. Monica fake coughed, before speaking again. "I just…gods, he's so quiet, too. We don't talk a lot. And on top of that, I have to fake being pregnant."

Okay, that was just really weird. Maybe a bit…wrong. And…disturbing. He hoped he wasn't making too weird of a face as he asked, "Why are you faking it?"

She frowned, crossing her arms. "To stop him from seppuku."

He must've given her a really weird look at that reasoning, so Monica explained.

"Apparently it's some tradition where you stab yourself in the stomach. Not exactly a great way to go, but it's a very traditional way of supposedly regaining honor because you can't defeat your enemy or some sort of shit. Matsushiro fabricated me being pregnant on the spot in order to stop Kai from doing so, and I'm grateful he's not dead, but…"

"But you'll have to tell him the truth, eventually." Eamonn ended.

"Yeah. _That._ I'm not sure how _or_ when to tell him that."

Now that Eamonn thought about how Monica described Kai, he…sounded an awful lot like Eamonn himself, not including the seppuku part. Eamonn knew he could get deep into his work when on the job, sometimes to the point of neglecting a few…personal things (such as the lack of social life Kuroyanagi oh so pointed out earlier). And then there was the fact that both were quiet, too.

Huh. That was definitely odd. Maybe he ought to talk to that swordsman baker sometime. But right now, it was clear that Monica didn't know what to do. And Eamonn wasn't really sure what to say. Given his own work, back when he was part of the Wizard's Guard in Oz, he had to keep a lot of unsavoury things quiet. He often kept work and life separate, he _had_ to. Clearly that didn't end well, and it didn't seem to be any different here in Japan between St. Pierre and Pantasia, given everything from last night.

"You should tell him."

He finally managed to say that after a moment. She looked to him, silent, before he clarified.

"About the false pregnancy. You need...you need to tell him. He'll be upset, but he should know. Lying to each other's faces won't help either of you. It never does."

Monica had her turn to fall silent, then she slowly nodded.

"Well…okay. I guess I'll tell him soon."

"Today."

"What?"

"Tell him as soon as possible. I overheard you saying he had the full day off?"

"Yeah, you have a point." Monica pushed some hair out of her face, readjusting one of her long pigtails before speaking again. "Hey, uh….Maybe we have more in common than we think, you and me."

" _Hopefully_ aside from complaining about our lovers and trying to solve the problems in our relationships?" The Lion of Oz awkwardly asked.

She made a face. "Uh, yeah, besides that I hope. I mean…" She shrugged, "Look, I don't know if you have some friend circle or something, but if you wanna hang out sometimes when you're off work and I'm off work, I'm open to it. Kai works here at this building, so I know my way here."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're open to that?"

"Yeah. Besides, it's kind of a relief to know someone who speaks the same language as you." She chuckled at that. "What do you think?"

"I…" He offered her a soft smile. "I think I'd like that."

"Great! Uh," She paused, "You have a cellphone or something I hope?"

"Didn't take it with me." He had a pen though, he'd just write it on his hand and hope it didn't get smeared when he would copy it onto an actual piece of paper later.

"Cool."

She just finished telling him the number and he finished writing it down when Kai Suwabara came out the back door. He blinked, looking to both of them. "Monica…?"

" _Kaiiiii!"_ Monica literally flung herself at him. Eamonn suppressed a laugh at watching the swordsman baker gasp and flail in her arms, before she pulled back, giving him a pouty look. "You took sixteen minutes, mister! You said you'd be down in _fifteen!"_

"You…" Eamonn blinked. "You were counting _the whole time?"_

"Yeah, I was." Monica managed, before looking to Kai again. "Now, where do you wanna go? We got the whollleee day to ourselves!"

"Uh…" Kai looked a bit dumbfounded. Eamonn chuckled, before checking his watch.

"I should get to work, so…."

"Uh, yeah, I'll let you do your thing!" Monica waved at him. "Call me when you wanna hang out! Or I'll grab your number from Kuroyanagi or someone and I'll call you! Or something!"

The Lion of Oz couldn't help but grin, taking one last look at Monica and Kai before bidding them goodbye, going back inside the building.

"Hey." Eamonn looked up to see Kuroyanagi approaching him. The raven haired man looked a little concerned, still, from earlier. "Are you alright?"

Eamonn thought back to Monica and Kai, thought about Sylvan, then nodded. "I think I'll be okay."

He thought he saw Kuroyanagi actually smile a bit. "That's good to hear."

* * *

It was after work when Sylvan called Eamonn and asked him to meet in his office. Eamonn did so.

"Are you okay?"

That was the first thing Eamonn asked.

Sylvan sighed, then looked to him quietly. "I'm…I'm not okay."

The Lion of Oz felt guilty, seeing the disappointed look on Sylvan's face. "I'm sorry that things went so badly between you and your father."

"I know…I just…I thought things would be better than what happened. I thought we had the chance to be family. I guess…" He shook his head, leaning a bit against the desk behind him, "I guess not."

Eamonn walked over to him, before enveloping him in a hug. Sylvan wrapped his arms around him, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, before speaking up.

"I heard you weren't doing well, either. Kuroyanagi told me."

"I think I'm getting better now." Eamonn paused, before pulling back to face him properly. "I met Monica earlier today. Seems she has her own troubles, too."

"Everyone does. We all do. But…" The General Manager looked up at him, "But we're not alone. Honestly, I'm glad if you and her hang out more and stuff. I meant to tell you, some time back, that you might want to expand your social circle a bit. I don't think you hanging around me alone is the greatest idea. Trust me, it sucks."

Eamonn's lips twisted faintly. "Kuroyanagi told me the same thing this morning. About…how isolation isn't good."

"He gave me a thirty minute lecture on it."

"I think I got the five-minute version."

Both of them chuckled at that, before Sylvan spoke up again.

"I'm sorry for pulling you into my own personal things…especially given what those personal things were. I should have been more sensitive about your wellbeing."

"I'm just glad you're safe. I don't know what I'd do if you got physically hurt or something like that."

"Yeah…" Sylvan took off his mask, putting it on the desk. Eamonn had seen the other's bare face before, so it wasn't new to him, but he could see that the other's eyes were a little red. He wondered if Sylvan cried earlier today, over everything that happened last night. Or maybe the reddened eyes were simply from a lack of sleep. Perhaps it was for both reasons.

Before Eamonn could do anything, he felt Sylvan wrap his arms around him again.

"Promise….you won't leave me behind? At least, not without a warning?"

Eamonn ran a hand through the younger man's hair, whispering two words.

"I promise."

* * *

 **Author note: This oneshot marks this continuum going Canon-Divergent for Yakitate! Japan, as it will not include Meister Kirisaki competing against Pantasia in the Yakitate! 25/9 arc.**

 **One of you fellow readers noted to me from the last oneshot how Eamonn didn't exactly have friends with any of the other coworkers. The reason I hadn't established these sorts of bonds until now is because...for those of you that know Emerald City canon well (and I'll try not to spoil too much for those who don't know), Eamonn lost his family at the end of the show. I'd like to think he's still grieving. I feel like he's the type that might just isolate himself due to that grief as a result. He's not a man of many words or social interactions in general, either, so that doesn't help him. I tried my best to write this issue into here, as I felt that it should finally be confronted. I imagine Eamonn is still coping, and having more friends will be helpful for him, but it's going to take a lot of time.**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading this fic, and I promise the next one in the continuum will be particularly less angsty!**


End file.
